Becoming A Battle Mage
by Secret Writter
Summary: Magic was one thing Saito never saw himself using. Amidst being a powerful warrior, he must also adopt learning the ways of magic to benefit both himself and those around him. AU starting from the match against Guiche.
1. An Unwelcome Discovery

_From the manga and anime and an experimental response to a challenge by one 'destroyer'  
><em>

* * *

><p>Hiraga Saito thought his actions against Guiche would only bring him a pleasurable chuckle of satisfaction. Instead, he could hardly hold back his laughter as Guiche de Gramont lay facedown and tasted dirt for the first time in a very long time. All if it caused in due part by him. He'd never felt so good.<p>

"It serves you right, snob." the familiar managed to gasp. The downed mage balled his fists and slowly began recovering, but with an air of hostility around him, Saito noted.

"You there... I hope you're prepared..." Standing up, he patted himself down and made it clear he was beyond aggravated at the familiar. "Such attitude towards a noble, from a commoner like yourself... you are simply asking for trouble."

Saito was prepared to wait for the mage to get to the point, but an increasingly distressed Siesta latched onto his shoulder. "Saito, hurry and apologize! I told you, didnt I? If you seriously anger a noble..."

"There's nothing to apologize about. Its his own fault for deceiving those girls." he assured her as he crossed his arms. Guiche felt his brow twitch and wasted little time in offering the familiar any time to get away from him.

"I shall have to teach you the proper etiquette for addressing a noble, _commoner_."

"You... you'll get killed."

"...what?"

"You'll get yourself killed!" The maid shouted at him before bolting away and towards the building. The same time he called her name out, Guiche let out an obnoxious laugh, bringing the familiars attention back on him.

"Thats one clever maid." He brushed his hair back. "Of course she would leave, knowing my powers as a mage... but...why are you so foolish! Must be because you're a low-level familiar summoned by that "_Louise the Zero_"."

The familiar felt his teeth grit violently. "Why you..."

* * *

><p>Louise's colorful description of her familiars personality was halted mid-way by one of the academy's maids approaching her well over the speed she'd usually seen them use.<p>

"Ah! I found you! Miss Valliere!"

"I thought the dining hall sounded noisy." the mage commented to herself. "Is something happening?"

"Y...Yes! Its Saito! He's in trouble!"

The young mage slowly took in each letter the maid had given her and blinked a few times before finally giving what first came to mind.

"...Eh! Out of my way!"

The maid hardly managed to clear herself from Louises path as she immediately sprinted towards the schools courtyard. Considering the time that had passed, they would have been there by now. Finally coming up to it, it was to her relief and dread that they were already there. She wasted no time in reaching her familiar.

"What do you think you're doing! I heard all about this!"

He dared only now notice her and worse, he shrugged off her appearance, merely replying, "Yo, master." Guiche stared from afar in amusement at the enveloping scene they were making, in addition to the one underway. It would come to haunt her later if she didn't do anything now.

"Stop going around and doing whatever you want without asking your masters permission!" The mage felt anger boil within her as the summoned familiar merely grunted and turned to Guiche. She raised her voice to gain his attention. "Look! Apologize to Guiche!"

"No. I didn't do anything wrong." he replied honestly. With or without his reasons, he didn't know what he was getting into. With the same tone, she demanded, "I don't care, so hurry up and apologize! There's no way a commoner like you could win against a mage!"

"That wont stop me from trying to find out!" He sharply responded. The mage tried her best to gather the appropriate words to speak, but instead, was disrupted by Guiche, enjoying their show all too much. "My, oh my... Since even your master has personally come to save you, why don't you just apologize to me?"

"What!" He was intimidating her familiar, and it was working. This is bad. "Stop it already! Why are you being so stupid about this!" That made him think. It had to have, he just stopped in his actions. But his resolve hadn't faltered whatsoever. Turning to his master after a moment of silence, he says, "I'll beat this guy... I wont ever let him look down on anyone..."

"Eh...?"

"Then a duel it is!" Guiche happily announced for one and all to hear. Whoops and hollers came from all directions as students finally had something to look forward to today. His fists clenched, the familiar added to the excitement, shouting, "Fine, I accept the challenge!"

The mage had no idea how to proceed. She watched helplessly as Guiche made his way to the open field and only seconds after, Saito followed suit, opposite of him. It wasn't until Montmorency approached her that she panicked for an idea. "Hey, Louise! Order your familiar to stop!"

"I...I was just about to."

"I commend that you didn't run away and instead came here!" Guiche spoke loudly, clearly desiring attention on the duel and more importantly himself. Saito, desiring no such attention or caring little for it, grunted and replied loud enough for the noble to hear. "Like I'd run away. I'm taking that arrogance of yours down a few notches!"

"Hey! Stop it! Knock it off!" Louise would admit that it was rather childish throwing pleas randomly at the challengers, but it was all she knew to do at the moment. Montmorency shook her head and sighed. "Louise."

Ignoring Louise as he'd done from the start, Guiche de Gramont rose his hand in the air and signaled to all students in the courtyard. "Ladies and Gentlemen! I, Guiche de Gramont, and this commoner servant here, will begin our duel!"

Saito, feeling eager already, cupped his knuckles experimentally. "Right then, lets be fair about this. Fists only, shoulders down." He was caught off guard as Guiche merely chuckled in response. "Fists? I will not lower myself to that level."

"What?"

"As you know, I'm a mage." He quipped nonchalantly and twirled a rose in his hand once before making his intentions clear. "Its only natural that I'll be using magic to duel!" Before the familiar had time to react, he'd already made the first move and with an overly excited voice, announced, "Come! Bronze Golem Valkyrie!"

A circle of white spread on the courtyards soil and from it rose a soldier of pure bronze, clutching a bladed staff in its right hand. Guiche smirked as Saito took a single step back in surprise. "What the hell is that?"

"My runic name is "Guiche the Bronze"." the mage commented to the familiar. "Your opponent shall be this valkyrie."

"Thats unfair! Summoning a valkyrie against a commoner!" Louise shouted from the sidelines. The familiar turned to her and shot her an annoyed glance. "You're so loud! Just stay quiet an-"

"Ah! Idiot! Turn around! In front of you!"

"Wha-...hrgh..." The valkyrie's fist made direct contact with the familiars abdomen and before he'd known it, he was off his feet and flying yards away from where he'd once stood. He gasped in pain and covered his stomach as the impact left a lasting ache.

"Saito! Saito!" The mage didn't hesitate to run to the familiars side, but didn't do much else besides kneel beside him, worried touching him may hurt him more. The young man forced himself to sit up but still clutched his stomach in pain. "Now do you understand? A commoner like you has no chance of winning against a mage!" she tried to dissuade him. Instead of listening, he chuckled amidst a grunt, eliciting surprise from the mage.

"That's the first time... you've called me by my name." The mage blinked at his response but wasn't able to fathom much else before he began to rise once more. "Eh? Th-This isn't the time to be saying stuff like that! Stop, don't get up!"

"...y'know Louise, I cant stand that." The young mage stared in silence as he brushed off dirt from his knees. "Are you guys so great that you look down on other people? It pisses me off." As ready as he'd ever be, he looked back down to her and offered a smile. "I'll have to pay him back for trying to make a fool of you too." And before she'd realized it, he was bolting for the bronze valkyrie.

"Hey, wait a minute! You don't have to do that! Saito!"

The valkyrie swung its arm at him but the familiar dodged it in a split-second before balling his own fist and sending it directly for its plated chest. As expected of the valkyrie, its entire body was made of bronze, and thus Saito was moderately surprised when all he felt was nothing but pain in his knuckles and hardly denting its surface. The familiar was sent back violently as the metallic warrior sent its other arm at him and struck him squarely in the ribs with just enough force to persuade him it'd broken something.

Again and again the familiar rose from where he'd lain in pain and Louise only watched in growing worry as each time he would rise more slowly and show even greater pain. It was only after the seventeenth hard thrust to his chest that Saito remained kneeling. She took the opportunity to approach him once more but stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed a trickle of red stain his lips. He was bleeding.

"Are you quite done?" Guiche asks from afar and smugly looking over the shoulder of his valkyrie. "I can forgive you, you know. Just say "I'm sorry, Guiche." Thats all."

"...dont count me out. I'm just catching my breath."

"Dont do it! You cant take another hit like that! You'll-"

"Die?" She stopped. He spat a wad of blood on the ground beside him and grunted as he forced himself to stand. The mages eyes grew wide as she realized there was no stopping him. He wouldn't back down, no matter what. "I don't mind being a familiar... or sleeping on the floor... or if the food here is horrible... I'll can handle it all, easy. Its not like I have a choice." He clenched his fist in preparation for an assault and turned to Louise a final time. "But I wont give in to someone like him... I cant... I 'wont'." And with it, he staggered his way to the valkyrie a final time.

He ignored her cry for him to stop and readied himself for a final attempt. Maybe if he could pass the valkyrie and get Guiche instead he could force him to surrender. But it wouldn't work. His valkyrie would be too fast. If he'd thought of it sooner... no matter.

He swallowed hard only a meter from the bronze warrior and taking a deep breath, gave a cry of frustration and anger as he launched his fist into its hard, still-undented chest for what could have been his final time. Again, no luck. He felt the blood drain from his face. Guiche grinned broadly.

"You lose."

The valkyrie moved to the side and brought its arm back farther than it had gone before, and faster than anyone could have seen it coming, its fist struck the boy familiar hard in the center of his chest, the impact echoing loudly across the courtyard. It was the worst sound anyone had ever heard.

The speed at which his body was shot back was one of great shock as the familiars now-unconscious body was launched from where he had once stood and sent several meters away, his body hitting the ground and rolling without control in a very disturbing manner. Silence filled the courtyard and it lasted for a dreaded dozen seconds before the familiars master finally broke from the crowd and ran to the boys side, shouting, "Saito!"

"He should only be unconscious. Very hurt, but unconscious." Guiche informed the crowd whilst the young mage ran to the familiars side. By the time she had reached his crumpled state, tears were well over forming in her eyes. Her hands hesitated over his body as she glanced at every part of his body to try and fathom the damage. Instead she turned and shouted to anyone in general, her voice cracking, "Get him to the infirmary!"

"As long as he'd learned his lesson." Guiche shrugged innocently before taking a single step forward in an attempt to both gain fame for the victory and his 'compassion'. He stopped however as a strong breeze slowly picked up past him. As it did with the other students. And Louise.

The mage blinked past tear-laden eyes and turned to the airs concentration, finding it centered on her familiar... and his intensely glowing rune. Out of reaction, the mage began to back away and soon the air became intense with a strange magical aura. All students felt it significantly. And to their shock, Saito's left hand balled into the earth.

"S-Still awake I see." Guiche commented as Saito oddly rose his head and rolled it once. "You don't have to say anything, we already know who won. Come now, before I lose my generous mood, lets get you to the infirmary."

"No..." The voice sent chills through each students bodies. Even managing to bring Tabitha's attention to the enveloping scene. And before Guiche could continue his speech of generosity, or Louise could scold him for refusing medical help, the familiar turned to face the boy from Gramont with eyes as white as his runes coloration. "You still have to learn."

"Eh! You want to continue? But... your bo-... no matter." He cleared his throat adamantly and directed his rose on the familiar. "If it is your will, so be it, but let it not be known that Guiche de Gramont was without mercy." With another flick of his rose, another bronze valkyrie rose from the earth and stood at attention.

"Guiche, stop! He cant take anymore!" Louise interrupted, even daring to put herself in the way of the valkyrie. Guiche clicked his tongue in disappointment, quietly hoping he'd be able to beat more discipline into the commoner. Louise kept herself in the way of the challenge as bravely as she could muster but in a second, found herself slowly rising from the ground and being moved from the side. Someone was levitating her away. "H-Hey, stop that! This challenge  
>mustn't continue! Please!"<p>

"Oh, well thank you." Guiche thanked the silent assistant. In a moments notice, the bronze valkyrie began its march towards Saito. Only meters from him however, it launched itself at him at an incredible speed and in that moment, all knew it would be over. But it wasn't.

A second before it made contact, the boy familiar curved his hand and curled his finger and immediately after, a pure ball of stone rose from the ground and separated into several jagged shards before subsequently striking the valkyrie in all parts of its body. The effect was a disjointed bronze warrior being launched back at its summoner in pieces as fast as it had launched itself at him.

All students in the courtyard stood stunned. Especially one Guiche de Gramont and Louise "Zero" Valliere.

"Magic... did he just use magic?", "What was that?", "Did he use some trick?", "It has to be magic!"

All around them students broke into wild banters of speculation. Guiche ignored all comments and didn't hesitate to summon several other valkyries. "Ah! Get him!"

All of the bronze warriors launched themselves towards the familiar and to the benefit of everyone in the courtyard, the results there the same... if more exciting and frightening.

The first warrior was finished like the last, its body dismantled by jagged pieces of earth from the soil. The second valkyrie was struck by a sharp pillar of earth that shot from the ground and pierced through it diagonally. The third valkyrie had sand erupt onto its body and was then impounded by each grain of it as though it were being crushed. The fourth and final valkyrie met the same fate as the second, though it was struck in the chest before the pillar of rock itself grew an extension that pierced up its bronze neck and violently exploded in a surge of a dozen smaller spikes from its head and helmet.

All students remained hushed as the final valkyrie twitched in its prison of earth and most felt the desire to take a step back as Saito began to step towards Guiche. The mage panicked and began frantically summoning valkyries left and right, but each summoning was interrupted by a jagged fragment of earth striking or impaling each and every one almost immediately after.. He took a step back as Saito finally came threateningly close and tripped in his efforts to remain distant from him. He looked at the familiar helplessly as he stood over him and trembled as he slowly rose a finger to him. Several pillars of earth erupted from around the noble and and exploded with additional extensions of earth until eventually they all surrounded his head in a mask of sharp rocks.

"_You_ lose."

He'd been prepared for something else... but not that. Guiche had enough time to bow his head in defeat and quietly concede to the familiar before small pockets of applause erupted into deafening shrieks and cheers for Saito, the familiar of Louise.

The mage herself, having watched all happen before her eyes, remained frozen in place in a mixture of fear and amazement. And rising pride. This was her familiar? That was his power? Was it even magic? She could hardly fathom any answer as chants of her familiars name and more importantly her own began filling the courtyard. Smiling, she began making her way to her familiar but stopped as she saw his runes light fade away and his body begin to sway. Knowing what may happen, she ran to him and managed to catch him as his body collapsed, instead falling on her.

"Saito! Are you alright!" Her worry switched to surprise as she found him breathing slowly and at a more relaxed pace than before, as though his condition had improved. She placed additional thoughts to the side as she confirmed he was well and simply unconscious. She sighed and eventually smiled at his resting figure before resting her gaze over the rune on his left hand.

He'd started using what powers he had after it had started glowing... Was it related?

She will have to speak with the head master about this incident. But she was already certain he was more than aware of it.


	2. Magical Potential?

Saito gives a disgruntled moan as his first conscious thoughts after days of rest seethed with annoyance over the morning lights radiating past a window he didn't wish to open his eyes to.

"The curtains are open..."

Shifting to his side gives him the desired comfort and the familiar manages to form a pleased sigh before attempting to surrender himself to sleep once more. This continued for a relaxed minute before a stray thought crossed his mind and he halfheartedly accepted the fact that he would have to leave what comfortable accommodations were given to him.

Groaning at a responsibility he wished he didn't have, the familiar first began to stretch his limbs in the bed, more than noticeably tense given their time without activity, beginning with the joints of his elbows and proceeding to his knuckles and fingers. Moaning satisfaction, he sits up and stretches his hands high towards the ceiling before finally glancing around the room he'd been placed in. He'd immediately taken notice of a familiar figure laying tiredly on a table to the left of the door.

Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, his self-proclaimed master, lay tiredly beside an open book he didn't care to ponder on. The young familiar observed her resting figure for a further minute and sadly took notice of the dark rings beneath her eyes. One to put two and two together, he knew she'd participated in a majority if not all of his caretaking. Despite her harsh attitude towards his actions and what punishments she dictated fit for him, he couldn't help but feel both sorry and gratuitous for the young misfit mage. He prepared himself to walk to her side but felt a searing pain jab at his rib immediately. He cursed himself silently for believing he was already fit to travel freely.

Steadying his breathing, the familiar experimentally flexed each individual limb on his body and took note that his left leg and entire chest cavity burn in either ache or pain if too much pressure or stress was placed on them. Assured he knew how much he shouldn't work himself, he readied his hand over the blanket to toss it to the side but stopped as he saw caught a glimpse of his rune for the first time since waking. Overall there was nothing special or different about them, but he couldn't help but feel as though the letters were... darker somehow. Shrugging it off, he slid off the bed and carefully stood on his feet, fighting for balance.

Coincidentally, the maid he'd been keen to listen and pay attention to just happened to walk in at that time and was smiling broadly as soon as her eyes came upon his conscious figure.

"You've regained consciousness! I was worried!" She certainly sounded giddy. The familiar offered a smile and raised a hand to wave. Apparently it was a bad decision to focus use on more than one limb at a time. "Siesta, its g... a-argh!" He latched onto his ribs and involuntarily fell back to sit on the bed. The maid grew alarmed and was at his side at an instant.

"Ah, you shouldn't move so soon! Your injuries were so severe that even healing spells couldn't completely fix them up!" He cringed as he decided to take a poke at his ribs and found the simple prod very painful. He'd have to be very delicate now. "You were asleep for three straight days and nights. You still need to take it easy."

"I... I what?" He couldn't believe it. Three straight days? He always considered himself a fast healer, but three days? What could have... oh. "Ugh... that valkyrie really could punch." He chuckled. "In hindsight, fighting a creature of bronze bare-handed really isn't a good idea." He looked at his knuckles as the memory came to him and frowned at seeing traced of his knuckles being skinned badly. A bad idea indeed.

"But you won, Saito!" He froze. He... won? Like won won? But... he lost consciousness. "Is there some kind of unspoken rule that you cant cause a certain degree of physical harm to a challenger? Otherwise, I find it hard to believe that I won." He unconsciously began scratching the back of his head. An odd reaction, but it eased the growing tension. "No, you won! You got back up and actually used magic to destroy Guich-"

"Whoa whoa, magic? Me?" He aimed a finger at himself. It was Siestas turned to be surprised. "No no, that cant be right. I don't know any magic, not even tricks! Well, besides that one thing with the quarter, but that's besides the point!"

The maid stared worriedly at the familiar and explained as clearly as possible. "Saito used magic. I saw it, every student in the courtyard saw it. Its the talk of the academy." The maid had hoped it would have provided comfort or at least joy, as was the standard reaction to any and all who had just been told they were magically gifted, but instead the teenagers eyes drifted downward and she felt he wasn't at all too happy to have been told this. She felt inclined to start throwing speculations.

"B-but it could have been some kind of scandal! Yes, someone levitated Saito's body while another used earthen magic to defeat Guiche in the ultimate scam. Hahaha, how funny it was!" She glanced at him for a response but found him the same as he was before. At least for a solid minute before he slowly began nodding. "Yeah... that has to be it." It had to be. He didn't feel like accepting any other possibility. Nor exploring how likely the given possibility was. He smiled at the maid and gave a nod. "Thank you Siesta. For helping take care of me."

Despite her lack of belief he was entirely alright, she smiled but waved his thanks away. "Thank you Saito, but its really miss Valliere you should be thanking. Miss Valliere was the one that tended to you personally. I don't think she slept one bit at all. She changed all the bandages, wiped the sweat off your face and even had to use an expensive reagent as well." Her words piecing his mind clearly, the teenager turned to the snoozing mage in awe and stared in the manner before smiling. Just as he'd thought.

"You look kind of spaced out. Are you alright?"

"Hm? Wha- err, I mean, I guess I'm a bit hungry." He was only looking for a topic to immediately switch to, but with food suddenly in mind, he was instantly aware of just how right he was. The young maid bowed respectably. "Then I'll make you something easy to digest. But... u-um... Saito, there's something that I must tell you."

"Yes?"

She appeared hesitant but delivered her words quickly... and with a bow. "I-... I'm so very sorry!" The outburst caused him to react with a lunge away from her. He smiled half-heartedly. "Uh, Siesta? Whats with the sudden apology?"

"That time... I couldn't do anything... except run for help." It seemed she put a lot of thought into it. Saito adjusted himself to listen carefully. Given her nervous shifting, what she has to say must be very meaningful to her. "I was really scared, because I thought there was no way a commoner could possibly stand up to a noble for as long as you did. B-but I'm not scared anymore. Because Saito won! I was inspired!" That's when he noticed how close she was getting and within a moments notice, she had a hand on his shoulder and shirt collar. He didn't expect her to shake him back and forth in anxiety however. "I feel like I can do anything with you, Saito! I'm going to try my hardest to!"

"S-Siesta?"

"Nnnn-..."

Both maid and familiar blinked curiously at each other and turned their heads the same direction in time to see the young, once slumbering mage, stretching as vigorously as he'd stretched a while ago. Coming down from her stretch, the mage took notice of the two and quirked a brow. "Hm? Oh! You're awake."

Saito immediately took the initiative and separated himself and Siesta by a healthy amount, though in a way that the maid would not be all too inappreciative with. "Much thanks to you." He laughed loudly and nervously as he patted Siesta farther from him. The maid however sported a look as though she'd both missed an opportunity and wished something had not happened at that exact moment. Still, she made for the door and turned to bow. "I will take my leave now." The bow ended with a smile aimed towards the familiar and without further delay, she was gone. Leaving, Saito noticed, himself with the violent mage of a master, Louise. He'd hoped she was in a good mood.

"So...? How is your body feeling?" She took a seat beside him on the bed nonchalantly. Maybe she was in a good mood. Despite his aches, he tried appealing to her by flexing his right arm. "I think I'm about alright now. Looks like the bones mended too."

She smiled at him innocently. "Really... that's a relief."

She really did seem to be in a good mood. In a very good mood. Maybe his standing up to Guiche changed her perspective of him? She was getting closer.

"Saito..."

Her hand rose to his left and he noticed it was aimed towards his cheek. Maybe he was wrong about her. Maybe all she needed was to see just how fine of a person he was on the inside. Her hand brushed against his cheek and proceeded towards his ear. Yes, all he needed was to-

"**_Don't joke around with me! You ignored my orders and were bashed around in a duel! And then you sleep in your masters bed for three days! When you're just a commoner! Just a familiar! When you're just a dog!_**"

Die. He needed to die. Right now. He sank to the floor, disoriented.

"Just with something like beating Guiche, did you think you'd get treated differently? Did you think you'd be commended? Are you an idiot?"

Adding injury to insults, she stepped on his back. Despite the pain, he forced himself to remain firm. Best he not prove he'd lied to her at the moment. He did however indulge her with an "Ow." before sitting up as he felt her abuse come to an end. "H-How can you do this to an injured person?" She merely held herself as firm as he had and crossed her arms.

"Alright, now listen veeeery carefully. I'll forgive you this time for the incident. But from now on, I want you to be obedient." He have groans of annoyance. It served to annoy her herself. "And follow my orders to the word with a '_yes_.'" "_Boo._" "Say '_yes_' you stupid dog!"

"Y-Yes!" Best not to annoy her further. It was fun while it lasted however. The mage nodded in apparent satisfaction. "Excellent. Now, I'm going to go have lunch. So stay here." As before, he replied in acknowledgement and saw his master off as best as he could physically. He was pleased that she didn't notice his stiff movements or hisses of pain and only once she left the room did he feel truly relieved and sank down in the chair she'd so long rested in.

The familiar sighed for comfort and rubbed his temple slowly before again noting the rune and bringing his left hand up. It was still as dark as before. Siesta had told him he performed magic. He didn't do that... did he? The mere thought of performing magic wasn't at all that disturbing, more of a blessing really, but it was the air of superiority that it brought with it that was really disturbing the familiar. If he really could perform magic... would he end up like that Guiche guy? He could never seen himself acting snobbish in any way, after all he was born to a low-to-mid class family and has lived as such most of his life, but if there was one thing years of video games had taught him it was that power can change even the strongest of people. At least that was the central focus of most of the games.

He sighed and let his hand drop before staring at the ceiling and thinking of what to do carefully. For a good ten minutes he thought of what to do. And eventually his eyes furrowed in determination. He had to know. Was it all a fluke like Siesta had joked, or did he really have potential. Standing up immediately, he went to work.

Recalling where Louise had directing him in searching for her wands, the familiar opened the assigned cabinet from the mages drawer and found himself staring at a vast collection of wands, each as plain as the other. And along with them was a crumpled note.

_'Dear Louise..._

_We talked about your case and decided it be best you have plenty of reserves in case you experience any more unintentional explosions._

_Sincerely, Mr. Colbert.'_

Of course. Tossing the note to the side, the familiar picked out a random wand and closed the drawer before setting his sights on one of Louise's books. Finding one perched on the edge of the drawer, he picked it up and brought it to the table and turned to a random page. It was only when he saw the page that he annoyingly recalled he did not know how to read the language of that world. Rolling his eyes at an attempt that was fruitless from the start, he sank in the chair once more and let the wand drop to the floor, idly telling himself to put it back in case of punishment from Louise.

Seconds flew by in the quiet room as the familiar dropped all plans for teaching himself magic and once all of it left his mind, he turned to the book again and stared at its page blankly. Simply because he can speak with them doesn't mean he knows their written texts. He scooted closer to the book in the chair and sighed in defeat as he stared at the picture. It was a mere fireball, and judging by the look of it, it wasn't an all-too-impressive spell. Wondering what else mages may have been capable of, he touched the book to turn the page. Unexpectedly, the runes on his hand flared to life and the book fell to the floor as he shot his hand back sharply.

The glowing continued for a number of seconds and the familiar thought he would have panicked had the runes not stopped glowing half a minute later. He waited a while to make sure it was really over and cursed under his breath as he went to pick the book back up. Magic was proving to be more troublesome than he'd cared to find out. The book back on the table, he took a seat again and experimentally prodded the book with his index finger to ensure another scene would not unfold. Thankfully, it hadn't, and he readied himself to continue flipping through the pages. It was then that he'd noticed the pages weren't in a foreign language anymore.

It was all in his language.

He stared at the page in disbelief and ran his eyes through the page once before turning ot the next and seeing if it had happened to the rest of the book. It had. And turning to the cover, he could see it clearly stated, '_Danvurs Spells and Guide to Magic. Volume II._' He felt his jaw slide open in shock before mechanically turning back to the page he'd originally chosen out at random. Precision Fireball, as the label read. Swallowing hard, he bent to retrieve the wand and stood by the table as he read the sentences following the instructions. He ignored them as it delved into a history he cared not to find out about. Finding the words bolded to the right of the page, he gulps loudly and feels his fingers begin to shake as he aims the wand outside of the open window.

Time for a test.

He switched between the book and the wand several times before finally adjusting his stance and taking a deep breath. He felt an odd force enter him from all around and felt energy course through him to the tips of his fingers. How could he not notice a feelign like this if it happened with Guiche. Assured it was some slumbering power and not a nervous reaction to what he was doing, he closed his eyes and focused on the power at his fingers. Now.

"_Novus Pyronus!_" He turned away quickly.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And nothing.

He peered back at his hand and found the wand where it was... but with no fireball or even a smoke trail. A... fluke? He actually found himself relieved. He looked at the window and had to see for himself. "_Novus Pyronus!_" Still nothing. He shouted again and again before breaking into a laugh filled with relief. He had no magic! Many would have been devastated, but he'd never known a feeling sweeter. His giddy cheer was interrupted by an upset intruder.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" It was Louise. The young mage moved to him without so much as a stall and stole the wand away from him in a second. "What were you trying to do?"

"Louise! I cant do magic!" He never felt better words leave his mouth. The mage simply stared at him as though he was crazy. In the time she'd spent watching over him, she had more than enough time to convince herself his magical abilities were fraudulent. She flared at him angrily that he would think he could have ever been able to perform such a feat.

"Of course you cant! You're a commoner!" She turns angrily towards the book and stares at the odd language curiously. "What's this? Is this... is that my book? What did you do to it?"

"I-It kinda changed when I touched it." He admitted sheepishly. "But that's besides the point! I cant do magic!" Louise rolled her eyes. As if it was ever new information.

"Just what were you trying to perform?"

"That spell out that window."

"Its a high level spell. Even excelling students would have an issue performing it so soon without proper tutoring from a school instructor."

"But why would I have to worry about that, right?" He laughed giddily one final time. "Because I cant do magic!" He aimed a finger at the window one final time. "I cant perform _Novus Pyronus!_" And at the finishing of the words, his laugh died mid-stream and both occupants froze where they stood as a concentrated ball formed at the tip of the boys finger with a pitch that was rising high exceedingly fast.

The familiar, still sporting the giddy look he had a while ago, felt his brow twitch as the room brightened considerably and within a second, the ball grew three times its size and changed from its common red to a lethal blue and an ever deadly white, violently flaring at each change. The pitch at its highest, his arm jerked back violently as the ball shot forth from his finger and traveled what felt to be a mile before delivering a grand explosion of red with a piercing blue center.

Neither occupant budged from where they stood, nor did their frozen expressions change. His hopes crushed, Saito retracted his hand slowly and delivered what came to mind at the moment.

"Well... shit."


	3. A Notice

_Contrary to some beliefs, this story has not been abandoned. That being said however, it has never been properly planned as it was originally to be a short piece that gained enough interest to be converted into a full-fledged story, as most of our works turn out to be now that I think about it.  
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_The absence has been solely for planning, I assure you, and as soon as we are able, the latest chapter will be posted after considerable editing and without hesitation afterwards.  
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_We apologize for the delay and ask that you only wait a short while longer.  
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_Additionally, we wish for our viewers to resist posting a comment on this 'chapter' as it is merely a notice and not an actual chapter in the 'Zero No Tsukaima' piece. We appreciate and value your feedback and would like for you not to waste such valuable assets on notices that will be removed and replaced with actual chapter parts. If something must be said, please send a PM or Private Message to our account and we will come into contact with you as soon as possible.  
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_Thank you.  
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_...  
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_This story will shift from a 'T' rating to an 'M' rating, come the next update. (The chapter itself will not contain 'M' rated material however)  
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